On March 8, 2017, the FAA granted Boeing an amended type certificate for the 737 Max 8, the 12th derivative of the 737 and the first successor aircraft to the 737 NG series. The first fatal crash of a Lion Air 737 Max 8 occurred just 17 months later near Jakarta, Indonesia. Another Max 8, this one operated by Ethiopian Airlines, crashed in March 2019 shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The 737 Max fleet was grounded shortly after the Ethiopian Airlines accident and remains grounded to this day. A key contributing factor in both accidents was Boeing’s new software system called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).
House Issues Report on 737 Max Cost, Consequences, Lessons
Key Takeaways:
- A preliminary investigation into the Boeing 737 MAX crashes identified significant failures by Boeing, including production pressures that jeopardized safety, faulty assumptions about the MCAS system, and the deliberate concealment of crucial information from the FAA, customers, and pilots.
- The report also found severe shortcomings in the FAA's oversight responsibilities, citing its failure to protect the public, rejection of safety concerns from its own technical experts, and acceptance of Boeing's arguments against installing critical safety systems like EICAS.
- Both Boeing and the FAA were criticized for gambling with people's lives by not grounding the 737 MAX after the first fatal accident and for failing to explicitly mention the MCAS system in pilot advisories following that crash.
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